Central Coast News KION/KCBAStudents occupy UCSC academic building overnight, plan next steps

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Several dozen students spent the night sleeping in cubicles or on the floor of an academic building at the University of California Santa Cruz as part of a protest against rising tuition costs and university police, but they could be preparing to leave.

Early Monday, students responded to a call from the Occupy University of California Davis movement for a strike across the 10-campus University of California system.  Demonstrators prevented the roughly 100 staff members from entering the Hahn Student Services building, and then moved their protest indoors.  Students said they chose the hall because it is the symbolic heart of the school administration.

Protesters said they were convening at 9:00 Tuesday morning to determine their next steps.

Alec White, a media liaison for the protest movement and an undergraduate, said students had been in contact with university police and administration officials over the phone.  He said protesters were planning an exit depending on the outcome of those conversations.

"When they tell us you need to leave, we're going to send in the police, then we're going to be leaving," White said, adding that they were not trying to get arrested because it could hurt the momentum of the movement.

Many student protesters said they were galvanized by images of University of California Davis police dousing seated students with pepper spray on November 18.  Students said their demands included the resignation of the UC Davis chancellor, disbandment of university police and the rollback of tuition and fees.

Late Monday night, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal and Campus Provost Alison Galloway wrote an email to the campus community informing students, faculty and staff of the protest.

"We both support free speech rights and are concerned about tuition increases and other impacts of never-ending state budget cuts to UC.  But we cannot support a protest that deprives all of our students of essential services," they wrote.

The Hahn Student Services building houses the offices of financial aid, student housing, undergraduate admission, registrar, cashier, disability resource center and summer session.  University officials set up temporary offices in the Stevenson Event Center on Tuesday morning.

White said the occupation of the student services building brought attention to soaring tuition costs and university police action against protesters at UC Davis.  He added that he hoped the demonstration would serve as a rallying point for the student movement.